The Kapiri by-election results must be a source of embarrassment not just to the patriotic front but the country as a whole. The disregard for the rule of law and the total impunity of those who should have known better that abrogate the electoral code is disheartening at best and frustrating at worst.

The whole nation witnessed on television the display of a captured Patriotic Front cadre distributing money for votes in total violation of the law. On being searched he was found with voters cards, obviously illegally obtained.

This is not the multi-party democracy Zambians fought for neither is the culture do we wish to encourage in our country where ethical morality, integrity and indeed individual probity should prevail.

The nation will want to know what the Patriotic Front position is on the individual found distributing money on their behalf and indeed what the electoral commission of Zambia will do about the matter and how far the police to whom these matters were reported will deal with the matter.

There is no question that an offence has been committed both in relation to the electoral code of conduct as well as corruption law.

Kapiri offers an opportunity to the Patriotic Front to redeem itself by owning up to the vice and undertaking NEVER to repeat them in future elections otherwise our elections and especially the by-elections that the Patriotic Front has instigated as a matter of policy will continue to be corrupt abuse of power premised on incumbency

Land Scramble

The mad scramble for land in Lusaka and its

environs must be stopped.

For too long the police, the Ministry of Lands and relevant authorities have allowed total anarchy to prevail in the land scramble perpetuated by party cadres and those with influence in government.

It is no longer strange for cadres to invade titled land and sub-divide it for sale to individuals who truly believe that political influence exercised by these cadres will protect them from the law and any action the title owners may take against them.

The assumption being that the judiciary has no effective authority to make orders that will reverse land encroachment.

This has been the case in many parts of the city where land owners have woken up to find beacons uprooted properties smashed by land grabbers wielding political authority .

We appreciate that the Lusaka Commissioner, Mr. Ashwell Kampengele has issued several statements warning cadres against encroaching on land but these statements have proved totally ineffectual because few if any of the culprits have taken them seriously. The trend as of now imperils bona fide owners.

The tragedy is that most people who buy land and construct on it feel entitled to occupy it by virtue of the structures they may have constructed on it. Invariably any action to demolish such structures results into a major stand off in which the land owner becomes an inhuman culprit.

Many cases have been reported in the media of houses being demolished and the police being demonised for protecting the rights of titled owners.

This is wrong. The rule of law imposes obligations on each and every member of society to protect property ownership which is enshrined in the national constitution.